Many jam makers think honey is too strong a flavor to use in fruit preserves, but not V Smiley.
She prefers the natural sweetener for its slight earthiness, but also to honor its intrinsic link to the fruit-growing process. Just like the fruit and herbs in her lovely preserves, Smiley insists that the honey she uses be local, too, made by bees that pollinate only within Vermont. Add to that a judicious use of interesting ingredients like wild herbs and flowers and you get the most complex, uncommon, deeply flavorful fruit preserves that capture the taste of spring and summer days.